VIETNAM · SOUTHEAST ASIA
Limestone bays, lantern towns, river deltas.
Overnight cruises on Ha Long Bay, motorbike loops through the far north, the lantern-lit old town of Hoi An and the floating markets of the Mekong. The whole country, from the Red River to the delta.
Pure Vietnam
Three journeys that are pure Vietnam.
Beaches, temples and night markets turn up across Southeast Asia. A junk anchored among the karst islands, a motorbike loop through the far-north mountains and a sampan deep in the Mekong belong to Vietnam alone.
The northern bays
A Night on Ha Long Bay
Almost two thousand limestone towers rise straight out of jade-green water, and the way to see them is to sleep out among them. Wooden junks drop anchor between the islands, kayaks slip into hidden lagoons, and the dawn is so still the cliffs double in the water.
- 1 Hanoi: 3-Day Ninh Binh, Ha Long, & Lan Ha Bay 5-Star Cruise
- 2 From Hanoi: Ha Long – Bai Tu Long Bay 2-Day 1-Night Cruise
- 3 2-Day: Hanoi – Ninh Binh – Halong Bay Luxury Cruise
The far north
The Ha Giang Loop
Up against the Chinese border the country folds into limestone mountains the rest of Vietnam never sees. Riders take three or four days to loop it, over the Ma Pi Leng pass high above the turquoise Nho Que river and through Hmong villages where the tarmac runs out.
- 1 From Hanoi: 3-Day Motorbike Ha Giang Loop with Easy Rider
- 2 3-day Motorbike Ha Giang Loop Luxury Tour With Easy Rider
- 3 From Hanoi: 2-Day 2-Night Ha Giang Loop Motorbike Tour
The nine-dragon river
Into the Mekong Delta
South of Saigon the land dissolves into water. The Mekong splits into nine arms before the sea, and everything moves by boat: sampans glide down palm-shaded canals, traders sell from laden boats at the floating markets, and the orchards run to the waterline.
- 1 Can Tho: Floating Market & Mekong’s Legacy( About 6 Pax)
- 2 Ho Chi Minh City: Discover Mekong Delta & Coconut Village
- 3 Can Tho: A Real Mekong Tour, Floating Market, Cacao & Life’s
Start with the favourite
The single most popular trip in Vietnam.
If you only have time to read one review before you go, make it this one. More travellers book it than anything else in the country.
The classics
Vietnam's Most Popular Tours
Ha Long cruises, Mekong day trips, the Golden Bridge and the Marble Mountains. The trips that fill most first-time itineraries.
Where to begin
The experiences a Vietnam trip is built around.
Ha Long Bay and the Mekong, the Sapa rice terraces and the Cu Chi tunnels, a market cooking class and the far-north motorbike loop. The handful of days most trips are planned around, and the best way to do each.
Plan your route
North, centre or south?
Vietnam runs more than 1,600 kilometres top to bottom, so most trips take a stretch of it rather than the lot. Here is what each third of the country does best.
The northern bays
Where the sea fills with limestone.
Ha Long, Bai Tu Long and Lan Ha run together into one vast bay of nearly two thousand islands, drowned karst towers furred with jungle. Sleep aboard a wooden junk, swim off the deck at first light, and paddle a kayak through sea caves into hidden lagoons.
Ha Long Bay cruises →Eat your way south
A country you taste, region by region.
Vietnamese food shifts as you travel: bun cha and egg coffee in Hanoi, cao lau noodles in Hoi An, broken-rice com tam in Saigon. Pull up a plastic stool on the pavement, or spend a morning in the market and the afternoon in a kitchen.
See the best cooking classes →Hoi An
The old town glows after dark.
A merchant port frozen in time, its lanes lined with mustard-yellow shophouses, silk lanterns and tailor shops. At dusk the lanterns come on, candle boats drift down the Thu Bon river, and the cooking here has a whole cuisine to itself.
- 1 Da Nang/Hoi An: Market Tour, Basket Boat Ride, Cooking Class
- 2 BUFFALO RIDING -BASKET BOAT & BIKE TOUR-HOI AN
- 3 Cham Island: Underwater Walking & Snorkeling Tour
By place
Vietnam, end to end.
Six destinations that anchor most trips, strung the length of the country from the Red River in the north to the Mekong in the south.
By experience
Pick how to spend the day.
A cruise for the bays. A motorbike for the mountain passes. A cooking class for the markets. Coffee, street food and cycling for the rest.
Plan it
Two weeks, top to bottom.
First time in Vietnam? The classic route runs the length of the country, north to south. Here it is in three legs.
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